The Elf of Notre Dame
by Horny-bimbo
Summary: LOTR version of Hunchback of Notre Dame, also featuring Chloe Chandler, Thranduil is not Legolas' father in this fic!


If any speech is in _CAPITAL ITALICS, _it means that a song is being sung - Tori.

* * *

_*****The chorus heard in the background mixes with the bells of Notre Dame cathedral ringing. A long zoom in through the city until we reach the Clopin singing to a group of children watching his puppet show*****_

**Clopin:** _MORNING IN PARIS, THE CITY AWAKES TO THE BELLS OF NOTRE DAME THE FISHERMAN FISHES, THE BAKERMAN BAKES TO THE BELLS OF NOTRE DAME TO THE BIG BELLS AS LOUD AS THE THUNDER TO THE LITTLE BELLS SOFT AS A PSALM AND SOME SAY THE SOUL OF THE CITY'S THE TOLL OF THE BELLS THE BELLS OF NOTRE DAME..._ Listen, they're beautiful, no? So many colours of sounds, so many changing moods. Because, you know, they don't ring all by themselves.

**Puppet:** They don't?!

**Clopin: **No, silly boy. Up there, high, high in the dark bell tower, lives the mysterious bell ringer. Who is this creature?

**Puppet:** Who?

**Clopin:** What is he?

**Puppet: **What?

**Clopin: **How did he come to be there?

**Puppet: **How?

**Clopin:** Hush!

**Puppet:** Ohhh...

**Clopin: **And Clopin will tell you. It is a tale, a tale of a man and an elf!

_*****A wipe to a dark night. A band of Elves quietly proceeding down the Seine, hoping to avoid detection. A baby in the female's arms begins to cry*****_

**Clopin:** _DARK WAS THE NIGHT WHEN OUR TALE WAS BEGUN ON THE DOCKS NEAR NOTRE DAME..._

**Elf 1:** Shut it up, will you!

**Elf 2:** We'll be spotted!

**Elf Mother:** Hush, little one!

**Clopin:** _FOUR FRIGHTENED ELVES SLID SILENTLY UNDER THE DOCKS NEAR NOTRE DAME... _

**Boatman:** Four gilders for safe passage into Paris.

**Clopin: **_BUT A TRAP HAD BEEN LAID FOR THE ELVES AND THEY GAZED UP IN FEAR AND ALARM AT A FIGURE WHOSE CLUTCHES WERE IRON AS MUCH AS THE BELLS..._

**Elf 3:** Judge Thranduil!

**Clopin: **_THE BELLS OF NOTRE DAME... JUDGE THRANDUIL LONGED TO PURGE THE WORLD OF ELVES AND HE WANTED NOTHING MORE THAN FOR HIMSELF TO BE THE KING!_

**Thranduil**: Bring these Elven vermin to the Palace.

**Guard:** (To mother) You there! What are you hiding?!

**Thranduil:** Stolen goods, no doubt. Take them from her.

**Clopin:** She ran!

_*****As the Elf mother tries to escape with her baby, Judge Thranduil gives chase on horseback. She reaches the doors of Notre Dame and pounds on them*****_

**Elf Mother:** Sanctuary! Please give us sanctuary!

_*****Thranduil finally catches up to her on the steps of the cathedral. He rips the still covered bundle from her arms, and kicks her, sending her crashing to the cement steps, where she is knocked unconscious. The baby begins to cry*****_

**Thranduil: **A baby?

_*****Thranduil uncovers the baby's head, seeing the angelic infant*****_

**Thranduil: **A pure one!

_*****He looks around, searching for a way to dispose of the creature. He sees a well, and rides over to it. He is about to drop the baby down the well when a voice shouted (a lightning flash between Clopin and Gandalf)*****_

**Gandalf:** Stop!

**Clopin:** Cried Gandalf.

**Thranduil:** This is an elven vermin. I'm sending it back to hell, where it belongs!

**Gandalf:** _SEE THERE THE INNOCENT BLOOD YOU HAVE SPILT ON THE STEPS OF NOTRE DAME._

**Thranduil:** I am guiltless-she ran, I pursued.

**Gandalf:** _NOW YOU WOULD ADD THIS CHILD'S BLOOD TO YOUR GUILT ON THE STEPS OF NOTRE DAME._

**Thranduil: **My conscience is clear!

**Gandalf:** _YOU CAN LIE TO YOURSELF AND YOUR MINIONS! YOU CAN CLAIM THAT YOU HAVEN'T A QUALM, BUT YOU NEVER CAN RUN FROM NOR HIDE WHAT YOU'VE DONE FROM THE EYES! THE VERY EYES OF NOTRE DAME!_

**Clopin:** _AND FOR ONE TIME IN HIS LIFE OF POWER AND CONTROL THRANDUIL FELT A TWINGE OF FEAR FOR HIS SOUL..._

**Thranduil: **What must I do?

**Gandalf:** Care for the child, raise it as your own.

**Thranduil: **What? I'm to be saddled with this elven-

_*****He pauses as a thought creeps across his face*****_

**Thranduil:** Very well. Let him live with you, in your church.

**Gandalf:** Live here? But where?

**Thranduil:** Anywhere. _JUST SO HE'S KEPT LOCKED AWAY WHERE NO ONE ELSE CAN SEE_. The bell tower, perhaps. And who knows-our Lord works in mysterious ways. _EVEN THIS CREATURE MAY YET PROVE ONE DAY TO BE OF USE TO ME._

**Clopin:** And Thranduil gave the child a name. A name like no other... Legolas!_ NOW HERE IS A RIDDLE TO GUESS IF YOU CAN SING THE BELLS OF NOTRE DAME. WHO IS THE VERMIN AND WHO IS THE PURE? SING THE BELLS, BELLS, BELLS, BELLS, BELLS, BELLS, BELLS, BELLS, BELLS OF NOTRE DAME!_

_*****We have wiped from watching Clopin's puppet show to the actual bells ringing in the tower, and the back of this mysterious Legolas ringing them. As we end on a beautiful shot of the bells ringing, and the word Dame is sung with the cymbal crash. We fly down to an exterior with the frozen forms of Eowyn and Gimli, with a bird's nest in Gimli's mouth, on the balcony. As Legolas comes out, the bird awakens*****_

**Legolas: **Good morning!

_*****The bird squeaks its approval*****_

**Legolas:** Will today be the day? Are you ready to fly?

_*****The bird squeaks its disapproval*****_

**Legolas:** You sure? Good day to try. Why, if I picked a day to fly, oh, this would be it! The Festival of Purity! It will be fun-the jugglers, and music, and dancing...

_*****The bird, who had been resting in Legolas's hand, has begun to flap its wings. Legolas slowly removes his hands until the bird is hovering in place. He chuckles and shows his hands to the bird, who finally realises that it is flying. It squeaks an approval, then a question, as a flock of birds fly by*****_

**Legolas:** Go on! Nobody wants to be cooped up here forever!

_*****The bird flies off to join the flock. As soon as it's gone, Gimli, and later, Eowyn, come to life. Gimli spits out the nest*****_

**Gimli:** Oh, man! I thought he'd never leave! I'll be spittin' feathers for a week!

**Eowyn:** Well that's what you get for sleeping with your mouth open, Gimli.

**Gimli:** Heh, heh, heh...go scare a duke! Hey, Legolas! What's goin' on out there? A fight? A flogging?

**Eowyn:** A festival!

**Gimli:** You mean the Feast of Purity?!

**Legolas:** Of course!

**Gimli:** All right, all right! Pour the liquor and cut the ham!

_*****Gimli makes farting noises in his armpit*****_

**Eowyn:** It is a treat to watch the colourful pageantry of the simple folk.

**Gimli:** Nothin' like balcony seats for watching the ol' F.O.P.

**Legolas:** Yeah, watching.

_*****Legolas turns and leaves, obviously sad*****_

**Gimli:** Hey, look-a mime.

_*****Gimli hocks up a phlegm in his throat, and is about to spit, when Eowyn covers his mouth. Gimli is forced to swallow his prize. They proceed inside to Legolas. Boromir catches up to them*****_

**Gimli: **Hey, hey, what's up, lad?

**Eowyn: **Aren't you going to watch the festival with us?

**Gimli: **I don't get it.

**Eowyn: **Perhaps he's sick!

**Boromir:** Impossible. If twenty five years of listening to Gimli hasn't made him sick by now, nothing will.

**Gimli:** Oi!

**Eowyn:** But watching the Festival has always been the highlight of the year for Legolas.

**Boromir: **What good is watching the party if you never get to go hear it?

_*****Birds have begun to roost on Boromir. He waves them away*****_

**Boromir: **Get away from me, go on, you bunch of buzzards! He's not made of stone, like us.

_*****Boromir goes to Legolas, who is at his table with a model of the city and small toys painted like townspeople*** **_

**Boromir:** Legolas, what's wrong? You wanna tell ol' Boromir all about it?

**Legolas:** I... I just don't feel like watching the festival, that's all.

**Boromir:** Well, did you ever think about going there instead?

**Eowyn: **Of course!

**Legolas:** I'd never fit in down there. I'm not... like everyone else.

**Boromir:** Oh, Legolas...

_*****He pauses as the birds have returned to perch on him again*****_

**Boromir:** (To birds) Do you mind? I'm would like to have a moment with the lad, if it's all right with you!

**Gimli: **(To Legolas) Hey, quit beating around the bell tower. Whadda we gotta do? Paint you a fresco?

**Eowyn: **As your friends and guardians, we insist you attend the festival.

**Legolas:** Me?!

_*****Enter Gimli, with a figurine of a Pope, from Legolas' tabletop scene*****_

**Gimli: **No, the Pope. Of course, you!

_*****Boromir shoves the Pope figurine in Legolas' mouth*****_

**Boromir:** It would be a veritable pope-pourri of educational experience.

_*****Eowyn pulls the figurine out of Legolas' mouth*****_

**Gimli: **Wine, women and song!

**Eowyn:** You can learn to identify various regional cheeses!

**Gimli:** Bobbing for snails!

**Eowyn: **And the indigenous folk music.

**Gimli: **Dunk the monk!

**Boromir: **Legolas, take it from an old spectator. Life's not a spectator sport. If watching is all you're going to do, then you're going to watch your life go by without you.

**Gimli:** Yeah, you're just like those folk, with the flesh, and the hair, and the navel lint except for the ears, of course. We're just part of the architecture, right Eowyn?

**Eowyn:** Yet, if you chip us, will we not flake? If you moisten us, do we not grow moist?

**Boromir:** Legolas, just grab a fresh tunic and a clean pair of shoes and-

**Legolas:** Thank you for the encouragement, but you're all forgetting one thing.

**All three statues: **What?

**Legolas:** My master, Thranduil.

**All three:** Oh, yes, right...

**Eowyn:** Well, when he says you're forbidden from ever leaving the bell tower, does he mean "ever ever?"

**Legolas: **Never ever! And he hates the Feast of Purity! He'd be furious if I asked to go.

**Gimli:** Who says you gotta ask?

**Legolas: **Oh, no.

**Gimli:** Ye sneak out...

**Boromir:** It's just one afternoon...

**Legolas:** I couldn't-

**Gimli:** ... and ye sneak back in.

**Boromir:** He'll never know you were gone.

**Legolas:** I mean, if I get caught-

**Eowyn:** Better to beg forgiveness than to ask permission.

**Legolas: **He might see me.

**Gimli:** You could wear a disguise. Just this once. What Thranduil doesn't know can't hurt you!

**Eowyn:** Ignorance is bliss.

**Gimli:** Look who's talking...

**Boromir:** Nobody wants to stay cooped up here forever.

_*****Legolas thinks for a moment, then a smile creeps across his face.*****_

**Legolas: **You're right! I'll go! I'll get cleaned up. I'll stroll down those stairs. I'll march through the doors and-

_*****Legolas and the statues have been advancing on the door leading downstairs. As Legolas nears it, Thranduil appears in the doorway suddenly, cutting Legolas short and returning the statues to stone*** **_

**Thranduil:** Good morning, Legolas.

**Legolas:** Ah-um, good... morning, master.

**Thranduil:** Dear boy, whomever are you talking to?

**Legolas:** My...friends.

**Thranduil:** I see. And what are your friends made of, Legolas?

**Legolas:** Stone.

**Thranduil: **Can stone talk?

**Legolas: **No, sir.

**Thranduil:** That's right. You're a smart lad. Now... lunch.

_*****Upon hearing the word, Legolas goes off and retrieves a table setting-a silver chalice and plate for Thranduil and a wooden cup and plate for himself*****_

**Thranduil: **Shall we review your alphabet today?

**Legolas:** Yes, master. I would like that very much.

**Thranduil:** Very well. A?

**Legolas:** Abomination.

**Thranduil:** B?

**Legolas:** Blasphemy.

**Thranduil:** C?

**Legolas:** C-c-c-contrition.

**Thranduil:** D?

**Legolas:** Damnation.

**Thranduil:** E?

**Legolas: **Eternal damnation!

**Thranduil:** Good. F?

**Legolas: **Festival.

_*****Thranduil spits out his drink at the incorrect response*****_

**Thranduil:** Excuse me?

**Legolas:** Forgiveness!

**Thranduil:** You said...festival.

**Legolas:** No!

**Thranduil: **You are thinking about going to the festival.

**Legolas:** It's just that... that you go every year.

**Thranduil:** I am a public official. I must go! But I don't enjoy a single moment of it. Thieves and hustlers and the dregs of all kind, all mixed together in a shallow, drunken stupor.

**Legolas:** I didn't mean to upset you, master.

**Thranduil:** Legolas, can't you understand? When your heartless mother abandoned you as an infant, and because you are an elf, anyone else would have drowned you. And this my thanks for taking you in and raising you as my son?

**Legolas:** I'm sorry, sir.

**Thranduil:** Oh, my dear Legolas, you don't know what it's like out there. I do...I do... _THE WORLD IS CRUEL, THE WORLD IS WICKED ! IT'S I ALONE WHOM YOU CAN TRUST IN THIS WHOLE CITY! I AM YOUR ONLY FRIEND... I WHO KEEP YOU, TEACH YOU, FEED YOU, DRESS YOU! I WHO LOOK UPON YOU WITHOUT FEAR, HOW CAN I PROTECT YOU, BOY UNLESS YOU ALWAYS STAY IN HERE AWAY IN HERE? YOU ARE AN ELF..._

**Legolas:**_ I AM AN ELF_

**Thranduil:**_ AND YOU'RE AN OUTCAST_

**Legolas: **_AND I'M AN OUTCAST_

**Thranduil:**_ AND THESE ARE CRIMES FOR WHICH THE WORLD SHOWS LITTLE PITY YOU DO NOT COMPREHEND_

**Legolas: **_YOU ARE MY ONE DEFENDER_

**Thranduil: **_OUT THERE, THEY'LL REVILE YOU AS A MONSTER_

**Legolas:** _I AM A MONSTER _

**Thranduil:** _OUT THERE, THEY WILL HATE WITH SCORN AND JEER _

**Legolas: **_ONLY A MONSTER _

**Thranduil:** _WHY INVITE THEIR CALUMNY AND CONSTERNATION? STAY IN HERE, BE FAITHFUL TO ME _

**Legolas:** _I'M FAITHFUL _

**Thranduil: **_GRATEFUL TO ME _

**Legolas:**_I'M GRATEFUL _

**Thranduil:** _DO AS I SAY. OBEY AND STAY IN HERE. _

**Legolas:** _I'LL STAY IN HERE. _

_*****Thranduil goes to leave*****_

**Legolas:** You are good to me, master. I'm sorry.

**Thranduil:** You are forgiven. But, remember, Legolas: this is your sanctuary.

**Legolas: **Sanctuary.

_*****Exit Thranduil*****_

**Legolas:** _SAFE BEHIND THESE WINDOWS AND THESE PARAPETS OF STONE _

_GAZING AT THE PEOPLE DOWN BELOW ME _

_ALL MY LIFE I WATCH THEM AS I HIDE UP HERE ALONE_

_HUNGRY FOR THE HISTORIES THEY SHOW ME _

_ALL MY LIFE I MEMORISE THEIR FACES _

_KNOWING THEM AS THEY WILL NEVER KNOW ME _

_ALL MY LIFE I WONDER HOW IT FEELS TO PASS A DAY _

_NOT ABOVE THEM... BUT PART OF THEM... _

_AND OUT THERE, LIVING IN THE SUN GIVE ME ONE DAY OUT THERE ALL I ASK IS ONE, TO HOLD FOREVER OUT THERE, WHERE THEY ALL LIVE UNAWARE WHAT I'D GIVE...WHAT I'D DARE JUST TO LIVE ONE DAY OUT THERE! _

_*****Watch right here, after the cymbal crash, as the camera zooms past Legolas into a street scene, for a cameo appearance by Belle*****_

_OUT THERE AMONG THE MILLERS AND THE WEAVERS AND THEIR WIVES _

_THROUGH THE ROOFS AND GABLES I CAN SEE THEM EVERY DAY _

_THEY SHOUT AND SCOLD AND GO ABOUT THEIR LIVES_

_HEEDLESS OF THE GIFT IT IS TO BE THEM _

_IF I WAS IN THEIR TOWN, I'D TREASURE EVERY INSTANT _

_OUT THERE, STROLLING BY THE SEINE _

_TASTE A MORNING OUT THERE _

_LIKE ORDINARY FOLK_

_WHO FREELY WALK ABOUT THERE _

_JUST ONE DAY AND THEN I SWEAR I'LL BE CONTENT, WITH MY SHARE _

_WON'T RESENT, WON'T DESPAIR, OLD AND BENT, I WON'T CARE. _

_I'LL HAVE SPENT ONE DAY OUT THERE! _

_*****Dissolve down to street level, where, in the midst of all the activity, is Chloe dancing in the street. Soon, a boy on top of the wall whistles. Everything comes to a halt, and all scramble for cover. As Pippin (a goat) grabs the hat, coins fly everywhere. He runs, and Chloe runs out to grab the money. As she's gathering the change, the guards arrive*****_

**Guard 1:** All right, gypsy, where'd you get the money?

**Chloe:** For your information, I'm not a gypsy and I earned it.

**Guard 1:** Gypsies don't earn money.

**Guard 2:** You steal it?

**Chloe:** You'd know a lot about stealing! And for the final time, I'm not a gypsy!

**Guard 1:** Troublemaker!

**Guard 2:** Maybe a day in the stocks will cool you down.

_*****She fights them, and eventually escapes. As the guards begin to chase, a helpful man block them with his horse, and they fall to the ground. Guard 1 is in the right spot, and*****_

**Man:** Sit!

_*****The horse does as he is told, and sits on top of Guard 1*****_

**Man:** Oh, dear, I'm sorry. Naughty horse, naughty! He's just impossible! Really, I can't take him anywhere.

**Guard 1: **Get this thing off me!

**Chloe:** (To the man) Thanks for that!

_*****Chloe shouts her last words to the man, who winks at her, before she is running down the street with the money and Pippin. We descend to a ground level view of the festival and see Legolas climbing down the side of the cathedral. He wanders into the crowd, as an oncoming group of people begin to sing*****_

**People:** _COME ONE! COME ALL!_

_LEAVE YOUR LOOMS AND MILKING STOOLS COOP THE HENS AND PEN THE MULES! _

_COME ONE! COME ALL! _

_CLOSE THE CHURCHES AND THE SCHOOLS! IT'S THE DAY FOR BREAKING RULES! COME AND JOIN THE FEAST...OF... _

**Clopin:** _PURITY! ONCE A YEAR WE THROW A PARTY HERE IN TOWN ONCE A YEAR WE TURN ALL PARIS UPSIDE DOWN EVERY MAN'S A KING AND EVERY KING'S A CLOWN ONCE AGAIN, IT'S TOPSY TURVY DAY! IT'S THE DAY THE ANGEL IN US GETS RELEASED! IT'S THE DAY WE WORSHIP THE PRIG AND SHOCK THE PRIEST! EVERYTHING IS TOPSY TURVY AT THE FEAST OF PURITY!_

_*****Legolas is working his way through the crowd, but he can't escape Clopin, who seems to be singing to Legolas*****_

**Crowd:** _TOPSY TURVY! _

**Clopin:** _EVERYTHING IS UPSY-DAISY! _

**Crowd: **_TOPSY TURVY! _

**Clopin: **_EVERYONE IS ACTING CRAZY DROSS IS GOLD AND WEEDS ARE A BOUQUET THAT'S THE WAY ON TOPSY TURVY DAY! _

_*****Legolas, having joined a chorus line of dancers, is shoved away, through a curtain and comes crashing into the dressing tent of Chloe*****_

**Chloe:** Hey! Are you all right?

**Legolas:** I didn't mean to... I'm sorry.

**Chloe:** You're not hurt, are you? Here, here, let's see.

**Legolas:** No, no, no!

_*****Chloe tries to pull the hood away from Legolas's face, and he is unsuccessful at stopping her. Pippin, upon seeing Legolas's face, whistles sexually. Chloe, however, only smiles sweetly*****_

**Chloe: **There. See? No harm done. Just try to be a little more careful, okay?

**Legolas:** I-I-I will.

_*****He starts to leave*****_

**Chloe:** By the way, great mask!

_*****She winks at him. Legolas smiles. As Legolas exits, we return to the celebration outside*****_

**Crowd:** _TOPSY TURVY! _

**Clopin & Crowd:** _BEAT THE DRUMS AND BLOW THE TRUMPETS! _

**Crowd:** _TOPSY TURVY! _

**Clopin & Crowd: **_JOIN THE BUMS AND THIEVES AND STRUMPETS STREAMING IN FROM CHARTRES TO CALAIS _

**Clopin: **_SCURVY KNAVES ARE EXTRA SCURVY ON THE SIXTH OF "JANUERVY" _

**Clopin & Crowd:** _ALL BECAUSE IT'S TOPSY TURVY DAY!_

_****As Judge Thranduil, and the guards enter the scene, Clopin jumps onstage to present Chloe*****_

**Clopin: **_COME ONE! COME ALL! HURRY, HURRY, HERE'S YOUR CHANCE SEE THE MYSTERY AND ROMANCE! COME ONE! COME ALL! SEE THE FINEST GIRL IN FRANCE MAKE AN ENTRANCE TO ENTRANCE DANCE LA CHLOE...DANCE!_

_*****On the last word, Clopin disappears in a puff of smoke, and Chloe appears in his place. She proceeds to perform a sultry dance*****_

**Thranduil:** (To a guard) Look at that disgusting display.

**Guard:** (Enthusiastically) Yes, sir!

_*****She continues to dance. She pulls out a handkerchief and wraps it around Thranduil's head playfully, using it to pull him closer. She moves in to kiss him, but jumps away at the last moment. Thranduil yanks the handkerchief off his head*****_

**Clopin:** And now, ladies and gentlemen, the piece de resistance! _HERE IT IS, THE MOMENT YOU'VE BEEN WAITING FOR! HERE IT IS, YOU KNOW EXACTLY WHAT'S IN STORE! NOW'S THE TIME WE CHEER UNTIL OUR SIDES GET SORE! NOW'S THE TIME WE CROWN THE MOST HANDSOME KING! _You all remember last year's king!?

_*****Last year's king, carried on the shoulders of the crowd, winks at the women*****_

**Clopin: **_SO WE'LL FIND A FACE THAT'S SO HANDSOME AND ANGELIC! FIND A FACE NOT SO GRUESOME AS A STATUE'S OLD BEARD!_

_*****Gimli is watching from far above*****_

**Gimli: **Hey!

**Crowd:** _PUT YOUR MASKED FEATURES ON DISPLAY BE THE KING OF TOPSY TURVY DAY! _

_*****Clopin has been pulling contestants onto the stage. Chloe pulls Legolas to the stage. Chloe works her way down the line, ripping off masks and revealing ugly faces underneath. The festivities continue until Chloe reaches Legolas. She tries to pull Legolas's mask off, but soon realises that it's not a mask and that he is actually handsome*****_

**Man 1:** That's no mask!

**Woman 1:** It's so handsome!

**Woman 2:** He's beautiful!

**Man 2:** It's the Elf from Notre Dame!

_*****Legolas, realising that people are shocked by him, is confused on what to do. Thranduil realises that the only person left standing on stage is Legolas. Clopin, trying to keep things going, jumps in*****_

**Clopin:** Ladies and gentlemen, we have asked for the most handsome face in Paris, and here he is! Legolas, the Elf of Notre Dame!

_*****Upon hearing Clopin, the crowd once again grows festive, and Clopin crowns Legolas King. From above, Eowyn, Boromir and Gimli whoop and cheer, while down on the ground, the crowd chants "Le-go-las!" To the side, Guards 1 and 2 are watching*****_

**Guard 2: **You think he's handsome now? Watch this!

_*****He throws a tomato at Legolas, hitting him square in the face. The crowd quickly goes quiet*****_

**Guard 3:** (Mockingly) Hail to the king!

_*****Someone throws another tomato. Soon, Legolas is being pelted with produce of all kinds. Shouts come from all directions. Legolas is soon lassoed and tied down on a rotating platform. He is spun around, as onlookers continue their torment. He sees Thranduil watching and shouts for help*****_

**Legolas: **Master! Master, please! Help me!

_*****Aragorn has seen enough*****_

**Aragorn:** Sir, request permission to stop this cruelty.

**Thranduil:** In just a moment, Aragorn. A lesson needs to be learned here.

_*****As soon as he's said this, the crowd gasps and goes silent. Aragorn and Thranduil look up to the stage and see Chloe ascending the steps. She kneels next to Legolas*****_

**Chloe:** Don't be afraid, sweetheart. I'm sorry. This wasn't supposed to happen.

**Thranduil: **You, girl! Get down at once!

**Chloe: **Yes, your honour. Just as soon as I free this poor creature.

**Thranduil:** I forbid it!

_*****She whips out a knife and cuts the ropes holding Legolas*****_

**Thranduil:** How dare you defy me!

**Chloe:** You mistreat this poor creature the same way you mistreat your people. You speak of justice, yet you are cruel to those most in need of your help.

**Thranduil:** Silence!

**Chloe: **Justice!

**Thranduil:** Mark my words, girl. You will pay for this insolence.

**Chloe:** Then it appears that we have a fool among us. And the fool I see is you!

**Thranduil:** Aragorn! Arrest her.

_*****Aragorn motions for his guards to move in and arrest Chloe. They surround the stage*****_

**Chloe: **Now, let's see. (Counting the guards) One, two, three, four, five, six, seven, eight, nine... So there's ten of you, and one of me. What's a poor girl to do?

_*****She begins to cry into a hankerchief, then disappears in an explosion of smoke*****_

**Thranduil: **Witchcraft!

_*****Chloe calls from another location*****_

**Chloe:** Oh, boys! Over here!

_*****She leads the guards on a wild chase. At one point, she knocks a large cage containing an old prisoner to the ground. It goes rolling away, until it comes to a stop and the lock breaks open. He steps out*****_

**Old Prisoner:** I'm free, I'm free!

_*****He trips and falls into the stockade, which closes and locks*****_

**Old Prisoner:** Dang it.

_*****Meanwhile, Chloe continues to evade the guards. At one point, she and Pippin jump on top of the crowd, which carries them away to safety. Two guards attempt the same move, and the crowd quickly moves away. She grabs a helmet from one of the guards, and throws it like a frisbee. It hits three guards and knocks them out, before almost chopping a guard's head off*****_

**Guard:** What a woman!

_*****Two guards on horseback are chasing Chloe. As she leaps over Thranduil's stand, someone throws the guards a staff. Each holding onto an end, the horizontal staff slices through Thranduil's stand, sending him diving for cover. Chloe ascends to the top of a stand, then promptly disappears*****_

**Thranduil:** Find her, Aragorn! I want her alive!

**Aragorn: **Yes, sir. Seal off the area, men. Find the girl, and do not harm her!

_*****Thranduil has ridden over to Legolas. He hangs his head low*****_

**Legolas:** (Whispering) I'm sorry, master. I will never disobey you again.

_*****He moves to the entrance to the cathedral as the rain begins to fall. He goes in, then slowly closes the door to his freedom. Chloe is disguised, with Pippin as the old man smoking while she remains hunched over under a cloak. She sneaks into the church. Thranduil however, notices this and follows her. Chloe removes her cloak and as soon as she is in the middle of the room, Thranduil barges in*****_

**Thranduil:** Aragorn! Arrest her.

_*****Aragorn doesn't move*** **_

**Thranduil:** I'm waiting, Aragorn.

**Aragorn:** I'm sorry, sir. For all we know, she may have already claimed sanctuary. There's nothing I can do.

**Thranduil:** Then drag her outside at-

_*****Gandalf has entered*****_

**Gandalf:** Thranduil! You will not touch her! (To Chloe, whom he as approached) Don't worry. Minister Thranduil learned years ago to respect the sanctity of the church.

_*****Thranduil and the guards turn to leave. Thranduil ducks around a pillar and doubles back. As the remainder of the people have passed, Thranduil jumps out, grabs Chloe's arm and twists it behind her. He whispers into her ear*****_

**Thranduil:** You think you've outwitted me, but I am a patient man, and people like you don't do well inside stone walls.

_*****He pauses, then breathes deeply, smelling Chloe's hair*****_

**Chloe:** What are you doing?

**Thranduil: **I was just imagining a rope around that beautiful neck.

_*****Thranduil caresses her neck, but she pulls away*****_

**Chloe: **I know what you were imagining.

**Thranduil:** Such a clever girl. So typical of you, to twist the truth to cloud the mind with unholy thoughts. Well, no matter.

_*****He begins to leave*****_

**Thranduil:** You've chosen a magnificent prison, but it is a prison nonetheless. Set one foot outside, and you're mine!

_*****He exits, pulling the door shut behind him. She rushes over to another door, only to find guards outside*****_

**Guard:** Thranduil's orders! Post a guard at every door.

_*****She slams it shut. Pippin comes back to her*****_

**Chloe: **One thing, Pippin-if Thranduil thinks he can keep us here, he's wrong.

**Gandalf:** Don't act rashly, child. You created quite a stir at the festival. It would be unwise to arouse Thranduil's anger further.

**Chloe: **You saw what he did out there, letting the crowd torture that poor creature. I thought if just one person could stand up to him, then...

_*****She sighs*****_

**Chloe:** What do they have against the boy because he's an elf, anyway?

**Gandalf:** You can't right all the wrongs in this world by yourself.

**Chloe:** No one out there's going to help, that's for sure.

**Gandalf: **Perhaps there's someone in here who can.

_*****He gracefully motions towards the inside of the church, then exits. Chloe moves into the church*****_

**Chloe: **_I DON'T KNOW IF YOU CAN HEAR ME... OR IF YOU'RE EVEN THERE... I DON'T KNOW IF YOU WOULD LISTEN... TO MY CHILDLIKE PRAYER... YES, I KNOW I'M JUST AN OUTCAST... I SHOULDN'T SPEAK TO YOU... STILL I SEE YOUR FACE AND WONDER... WERE YOU ONCE AN OUTCAST TOO?_

_GOD HELP THE OUTCASTS... HUNGRY FROM BIRTH... SHOW THEM THE MERCY... THEY DON'T FIND ON EARTH... GOD HELP MY PEOPLE... WE LOOK TO YOU STILL... GOD HELP THE OUTCASTS, OR NOBODY WILL. _

_*****She walks through the church slowly, as the shadows of those walking past her float over her*****_

**Parishioners:** _I ASK FOR WEALTH... I ASK FOR FAME... I ASK FOR GLORY TO SHINE ON MY NAME... I ASK FOR LOVE... I CAN POSSESS... I ASK FOR GOD AND HIS ANGELS TO BLESS ME!_

_*****Chloe is slowly moving to the light streaming through a giant stained glass window. Meanwhile, upstairs, Legolas has heard Chloe's voice, and has come downstairs to watch her*****_

**Chloe: **_I ASK FOR NOTHING I CAN GET BY... BUT I KNOW SO MANY LESS LUCKY THAN I... PLEASE HELP MY PEOPLE... THE POOR AND DOWNTROD... I THOUGHT WE ALL WERE... THE CHILDREN OF GOD... GOD HELP THE OUTCASTS... CHILDREN OF GOD._

_*****She finishes her song in the centre of the light from the window. Meanwhile, a parishioner has spotted Legolas.*****_

**Man:** (Shouting) You! Elf! What are you doing down here?!

_*****Startled, Legolas jumps and knocks over a candlestaff*****_

**Man:** (Continues shouting) Haven't you caused enough trouble already, Elf?

_*****Legolas runs off to his staircase. Chloe gives chase.*****_

**Chloe: **Wait! I want to talk to you.

_*****Legolas comes out the top of the staircase, followed by Chloe and Pippin. Eowyn, Gimli and boromir watch from above*****_

**Boromir:** Look! He's got a friend with him.

**Gimli:** Maybe today wasn't a total loss after all.

**Eowyn:** What a vision of loveliness!

**Gimli:** She isn't bad at all!

_*****Legolas reaches his room, where the three greet him*****_

**Gimli:** Legolas!

**Eowyn:** Congratulations!

**Gimli:** Got the girls chasing you already!

**Legolas:** Actually, I-

**Eowyn: **You mustn't run too fast, or she'll get away!

**Legolas: **Yes, ah, ah, ah, I know. That's what-

**Gimli:** Give her some slack, then reel her in, then give her some slack, then reel her in, then give her some slack-

**Boromir:** Knock it off, Gimli-she's a lady, not a mackerel.

_*****Chloe finally enters, and the three go stone*****_

**Chloe:** Here you are. I was afraid I'd lost you.

**Legolas: **Yes. Um, well, I uh, I have chores to do. It was, uh, nice...seeing...you...again. Ohh...

**Chloe:** No, wait!

_*****Pippin is examining Gimli. He briefly comes to life, makes funny faces at Pippin, then goes back to stone. Pippin is confused*****_

**Chloe:** (Giving chase to the once again fleeing Legolas) I'm really sorry about this afternoon. I had no idea who you were. If I had, I would never in my life have... pulled...you...up on the...stage.

_*****She slows down as she reaches Legolas's room, with its dangling glass mobile and model of the city. She is in awe*****_

**Chloe:** What is this place?

**Legolas:** This is where I live.

**Chloe:** Did you make all of this yourself?

**Legolas:** Most of it.

_*****She fingers the mobile*****_

**Chloe:** This is beautiful. If I could do this, you wouldn't find me dancing in the streets for coins.

**Legolas: **But you're a beautiful dancer.

**Chloe:** Well, it keeps bread on the table, anyway. What's this?

**Legolas:** Oh, no, please oh, I'm not finished-I still have to paint them...

**Chloe:** (in surprise) The blacksmith, and the baker. You're a surprising person, Legolas. Not to mention lucky. All this room to yourself.

**Legolas:** Well, it's not just me-there's the statues, and of course the bells. Would you like to see them?

**Chloe: **Yes, of course. Wouldn't we, Pippin?

_*****Pippin, who has been munching on an unpainted figure, slurps it into his mouth*****_

**Legolas: **Follow me. I'll introduce you. (Up in the bell tower)

**Chloe:** Never knew there were so many.

**Legolas: **That's Little Sophia, and...(quickly) Jean Marie, Ann Marie, and Louise Marie. Triplets, you know.

**Chloe: **And who's this?

**Legolas:** Big Marie.

_*****From under Big Marie, Chloe shouts a "Hello!", which echoes and resonates richly*****_

**Legolas:** She likes you. Would you like to see more?

**Chloe:** How 'bout it, Pippin?

_*****Pippin, under Big Marie, belches loudly, which in turn echoes and resonates richly*****_

**Chloe: **We'd love to.

**Legolas: **Good. I've saved the best for last!

_*****Legolas and Chloe proceed outside to a beautiful view of Paris and the Seine*****_

**Chloe:** I bet the king himself doesn't have a view like this! I could stay up here forever.

**Legolas:** You could if you wanted to, you know.

**Chloe:** No, I couldn't.

**Legolas:** Oh, yes, you have sanctuary!

**Chloe: **But not freedom. People like me don't do well inside stone walls.

**Legolas:** But you're not like the others. They're... evil.

**Chloe:** Who told you that?

**Legolas:** My master, Thranduil. He raised me.

**Chloe:** How could such a cruel man have raised you?

**Legolas:** Cruel?! Oh, no. He saved my life. He took me in when no one else would. I am vermin, because I am an elf, you know.

**Chloe: **He told you that?

**Legolas:** Look at me.

**Chloe:** Give me your hand.

_*****She takes his hand and looks at his palm*****_

**Legolas:** Why?

**Chloe:** Just let me see. (Tracing his palm lines with her finger) Hmm, a very long life line...oh, and this one means you're confident but when around strangers, you're shy. Hmm. Hmm, hmm, hmm...well, that's funny...

**Legolas:** What?

**Chloe:** I don't see any.

**Legolas: **Any what?

**Chloe: **Vermin lines. Not a single one. Now you look at me. Do you think I'm evil?

**Legolas: **No, no, no! You are kind, and good, beautiful and-

**Chloe: **-And maybe Thranduil's wrong about the both of us.

_*****Below, Eowyn, Gimli and Boromir are straining to listen in*****_

**Gimli:** What did she say?!

**Eowyn:** Thranduil's nose is long, and he wears a truss.

**Gimli:** Hah! Told ya! (To Boromir) Pay up!

*****Boromir hands him a bag of coins. Back to the rooftop*****

**Legolas:** You helped me. Now I will help you.

**Chloe:** But there's no way out. There's soldiers at every door.

**Legolas:** We won't use a door.

**Chloe: **You mean... Climb down?

**Legolas: **Of course. You carry him (motions to Pippin), I carry you.

**Chloe:** Okay. Come on Pippin.

_*****Pippin hops into her arms*****_

**Legolas:** Ready?

**Chloe:** Yes.

**Legolas:** Don't be afraid.

**Chloe:** I'm not afraid.

_*****Legolas leaps over the edge and holds on to a gargoyle head*****_

**Chloe:** Now I'm afraid.

**Legolas:** The trick is not to look down.

_*****Legolas begins swinging down the exterior of the cathedral*****_

**Chloe:** You've done this before?

**Legolas:** No.

_*****Legolas finally stops on a slanted roof*****_

**Chloe:** Wow. You're quite an acrobat.

**Legolas:** Thank you-

_*****His words are cut short as the tile they're on breaks free and they begin to slide down the roof as if they were on a sled. They're able to jump off their sled just before it goes sailing off into the air. It lands a few blocks away. The guards on the ground hear the crash and go off to investigate*****_

**Guards:** Check the alley! This way!

_*****As guards pass, Legolas, Chloe and Pippin hide as part of a statue. When the coast is clear, they speak again*** **_

**Legolas:** I hope I didn't scare you.

**Chloe:** Not for an instant.

_*****Pippin groans as his heart is only just now beginning to beat again.*****_

**Legolas:** I'll never forget you, Chloe.

**Chloe:** Come with me.

**Legolas: **What?!

**Chloe:** To the Court of Miracles. Leave this place.

**Legolas:** Oh, no. I'm never going back out there again. You saw what happened to me today. No. This is where I belong.

**Chloe:** All right, then I'll come to see you.

**Legolas:** What? Here? But, the soldiers, and Thranduil, and...

**Chloe:** I'll come after sunset.

**Legolas:** At sunset, I ring the evening mass, and after that, I clean the kooisters, and then I ring the vespers, and-

_*****Chloe silences him with a kiss on his lips, softly and slowly. As soon as she pulls back, Legolas is silent for only two seconds.*****_

**Legolas: **-Whatever's good for you.

_*****Chloe pulls a talisman off her neck and hands it to Legolas*****_

**Chloe:** If you ever need sanctuary, this will show you the way.

**Legolas: **But how?

**Chloe: **Just remember: When you wear this woven band, you hold the city in your hand.

_*****Pippin bleats as the guards are returning*****_

**Legolas:** Hurry! You must go!

_*****They kiss once more and Chloe and Pippin then slide down a rope to the ground and run off into the dark. Legolas sighs happily and climbs back up to his tower. As soon as he reaches his room, the statues appear.*****_

**Gimli:** Hey hey! There he is!

**Eowyn:** Terrific!

**Gimli:** It seems you got your girl after all.

**Legolas:** My girl?

**Boromir:** Chloe. fluffy light brown hair, works with a goat. Remember?

**Gimli: **Well, I certainly do! Way to go, loverboy!

**Legolas:** Loverboy?! Oh, no, no...

**Boromir:** Oh, don't be so modest.

**Legolas:** Look. I appreciate what you're all trying to do, but let's not fool ourselves. I don't think I'm good enough for her. She's beautiful and kind, caring, but me? I'm not as beautiful as her.

_*****They slowly melt into the background as Legolas begins to sing*****_

**Legolas:** _SO MANY TIMES OUT THERE I'VE WATCHED A HAPPY PAIR OF LOVERS WALKING IN THE NIGHT... THEY HAD A KIND OF GLOW AROUND THEM... IT ALMOST LOOKED LIKE HEAVEN'S LIGHT... I THOUGHT I'D NEVER KNOW THAT WARM AND LOVING GLOW ALTHOUGH I WISHED WITH ALL MY MIGHT... NO FACE AS SUCH AS MY OWN WAS EVER MEANT FOR SUCH HEAVEN'S LIGHT... BUT SUDDENLY AN ANGEL HAS SMILED AT ME AND KISSED MY LIPS WITHOUT A TRACE OF FRIGHT... I DARE TO DREAM THAT SHE LOVES ME FOR ME AND AS I RING THESE BELLS TONIGHT... MY COLD DARK TOWER SEEMS SO BRIGHT... I SWEAR IT MUST BE HEAVEN'S LIGHT!_

_*****As Legolas rings the bells with his tall and strong figure, we see a group of monks in the ground level of the cathedral. We fly over Paris towards the Palace. As we do, we can see isolated lights going out occasionally. We eventually end up in the firelit bedchamber of Thranduil*****_

**Thranduil: **_BEATTA MARIA, YOU KNOW I AM A RIGHTEOUS MAN OF MY VIRTUE, I AM JUSTLY PROUD... BEATTA MARIA YOU KNOW I'M SO MUCH PURER THAN THE COMMON, VULGAR, WEAK, LICENTIOUS CROWD... THEN TELL ME, MARIA, WHY I SEE HER DANCING THERE, WHY HER SMOLDERING EYES STILL SCORCH MY SOUL_

_*****As Thranduil sings, the flames in the fireplace take the form of a dancing Chloe, dancing for Thranduil's pleasure*****_

**Thranduil: **_LIKE FIRE, HELLFIRE! THIS FIRE IN MY SKIN... THIS BURNING DESIRE IS TURNING ME TO SIN!_

_*****The walls of the room and the flames suddenly become a row of judges, all dressed in red robes. Thranduil is terrified.*****_

**Thranduil: **_IT'S NOT MY FAULT! I'M NOT TO BLAME! IT IS THE GIRL, THE WITCH WHO SENT THIS FLAME! IT'S NOT MY FAULT IF, IN GOD'S PLAN, HE MADE THE DEVIL SO MUCH STRONGER THAN A MAN! PROTECT ME, MARIA! DON'T LET THIS SIREN CAST HER SPELL! DON'T LET HER FIRE SEAR MY FLESH AND BONE! DESTROY CHLOE AND LET HER TASTE THE FIRES OF HELL OR ELSE LET HER BE MINE AND MINE ALONE!_

_*****The room returns to normal as a guard pounds on the door, then enters*****_

**Guard:** Minister Thranduil, the girl has escaped.

**Thranduil:** What?!

**Guard:** She's nowhere in the cathedral. She's gone.

**Thranduil: **But how, and... never mind. Get out, you idiot! I'll find her. I'll find her if I have to burn down all of Paris!._.. HELLFIRE, DARK FIRE! NOW WITCH IT IS YOUR TURN! CHOOSE ME OR YOUR PYRE! BE MINE, OR YOU WILL BURN!... GOD HAVE MERCY ON HER... GOD HAVE MERCY ON ME... BUT SHE WILL BE MINE, OR SHE WILL BURN!_

_*****Dissolve to morning. Thranduil is exiting his carriage. Waiting for him is Aragorn*****_

**Aragorn:** (To Thranduil) Morning, sir.

_*****Thranduil moans*****_

**Aragorn:** Are you feeling all right?

**Thranduil: **I had a little trouble with the fireplace.

**Aragorn:** I see. Your orders, sir?

**Thranduil: **Find the girl.

_*****Fast music, cut to troops ransacking a home, eventually finding a group of gypsies hidden in a trap door. The gypsies are lined up outside, with Thranduil looking down at them*** **_

**Thranduil: **Ten pieces of silver for the girl Chloe.

_*****He shoves a handful of coins out, but there are no takers*****_

**Thranduil:** (To Guards) Lock them up!

_*****We now watch Thranduil's men push a carriage into the Seine. As it begins to sink, gypsies come floating to the surface. Once again, they're lined up, with Thranduil surveying them*****_

**Thranduil:** Twenty pieces of silver for the girl, Chloe!

_*****Again, no takers*****_

**Thranduil:** (To Guards) Take them away!

_*****We see Aragorn becoming angry and shaking his head. Cut to a house with a large windmill. Thranduil's guards have found gypsies there. Thranduil is interrogating the miller. Music lower*****_

**Thranduil:** We found this talisman on your property. Have you been harbouring any fugitives to the high authorities?

**Miller:** Our home is always open to the weary traveler. Have mercy, my lord.

**Thranduil:** I am placing you and your family under house arrest until I get to the bottom of this. If what you say is true, you are innocent and you have nothing to fear.

**Miller: **But we are innocent, I assure you! We know nothing of these folk you speak of!

_*****Thranduil pulls their door shut, then bars it shut with a guard's staff. He turns to Aragorn*****_

**Thranduil:** Burn it.

**Aragorn:** What?!

**Thranduil:** Until it smolders. These people are traitors and must be made examples of.

_*****Thranduil hands him a torch*****_

**Aragorn:** With all due respect, sir, I was not trained to murder the innocent.

**Thranduil:** But you were trained to follow orders.

_*****Aragorn takes the torch and douses it in a bucket of water*****_

**Thranduil: **Insolent coward.

_*****Thranduil grabs another torch and touches the flame to the windmill. The entire structure is quickly engulfed in flame. Aragorn crashes through the window and brings the family outside to safety. As the building continues to burn, guards grab Aragorn*****_

**Thranduil:** The sentence for insubordination is death. Such a pity- you threw away a promising career.

**Aragorn:** Consider it my highest honour, sir.

_*****Thranduil raises a spear and is about to kill Aragorn, when Aragorn kicks Thranduil's horse. The horse bucks, and Thranduil is thrown off. Aragorn escapes the guards, hops on Thranduil's horse and is off*****_

**Thranduil:** Hit him! And don't hit my horse!

_*****As Aragorn rides off, he is showered with arrows. One of them goes through his shoulder, and he falls off the horse, off the bridge that he's riding over, and into the river. A volley of arrows follow him in. Chloe, who has witnessed the entire spectacle in disguise, gasps*****_

**Thranduil:** Don't waste your arrows. Let the traitor rot in his watery grave! Find the girl! If you have to burn the city to the ground, so be it!

_*****Chloe runs down the hill to the river, keeping under cover. She wades into the water, then dives under. She comes back up with the unconscious Aragorn.*****_

**Chloe: **You have to make it, I promise you will! You don't deserve this punishment!

_*****She pulls him out of the water as we dissolve to a long shot of Paris burning. Thranduil is approached by a guard*****_

**Guard:** Sir! We've looked everywhere, and still no sign of the girl.

**Thranduil:** I had the entire cathedral surrounded, guards at every door. There was no way she could have escaped... unless...

_*****He looks up to the cathedral's bell tower, and Legolas's home. In the tower, Eowyn and Boromir and Gimli talking.*****_

**Eowyn:** Oh, it doesn't look good.

**Boromir: **It's hopeless. Absolutely hopeless.

_*****Cut to Gimli playing cards with a pigeon*****_

**Gimli:** You're telling me! I'm losing to a bird!

**Boromir:** Oh, that poor girl. I'm beginning to fear the worst.

**Eowyn:** I know, but, now, don't you say anything to upset Legolas. He's worried enough already.

**Gimli:** Yeah, you're right. We'd better lighten up.

**Boromir:** Shh, shh, shh! Here he comes!

**Eowyn: **Now just stay calm.

**Boromir:** Not a word.

**Gimli:** Easy does it.

**Boromir:** Stone faced.

_*****Enter Legolas*****_

**Legolas:** Any sign of her?

_*****Boromir quickly breaks up*****_

**Boromir: **Oh, it's a lost cause! She could be anywhere! In the stocks, in the dungeon, on the rack! (Begins to cry)

**Eowyn: **Well done, Boromir.

**Legolas:** No, he's right. What are we going to do?

**Gimli:** What are you talking about, boy? If I know Chloe, she's three steps ahead of Thranduil, and well out of harm's way!

**Legolas:** Do you really think so?

**Gimli:** When things calm down, she'll be back. You'll see.

**Legolas:** What makes you so sure?

**Eowyn:** You have nothing to worry about.

**Gimli:** She is literally in love with you.

**Boromir:** Don't you remember your kiss together?

**Gimli: **And those other males are a dime a dozen. But you? You're one of a kind. Look... you are charming, smart, humourous, creative, talented, how can she not look for someone like you?

_*****Legolas smiles hesitantly, he is nervous. Then he walks off to one of the bells for a quick polish, he looks at his face as he does so and sighs. Eowyn sees this and walks over to him.*****_

**Eowyn:** I know that you may not see it, but I can see it in her eyes that it is you who she wants, who she loves...

**Legolas: **How can you know for sure?

**Eowyn:** Because I know love when I see it, I've seen it in many others before you for centuries, Legolas. It's obvious that she loves you, and no mistake about it.

_*****Legolas smiles and embraces Eowyn tightly, then we hear a door open.*****_

**Chloe**: Legolas, are you here?

_*****They turn and see Chloe enter*****_

**Legolas:** Chloe?! Chloe! You're all right! I was hoping you'd come back.

**Chloe:** You've done so much for me already, but I must ask your help one more time.

**Legolas:** Yes, anything.

_*****She brings in the unconscious body of Aragorn along with the help of her friend Arwen*****_

**Arwen:** This is Aragorn.

**Chloe: **He's wounded, and a fugitive like me and Arwen. He can't go on much longer. I thought that he'd be safe here.

**Arwen:** Please, can you hide him?

**Legolas: **Of course. This way!

_*****They lay Aragorn down on Legolas' bed. He moans*****_

**Chloe: **Shh, shh, shh. You'll hide here until you're strong enough to move, Arwen will tend to your wound...

**Aragorn:** Alright, thank you...

_*****Chloe leaves Arwen to to the work and she walks to Legolas who is leaning on a post and embraces for a whole moment before Legolas chuckles.*****_

**Legolas: **It seems like your friend over there has taken a fancy...

_*****Chloe looks confused for a second before she looks at Aragorn and Arwen, to find them kissing, and laughs. Legolas wraps his arms around Chloe's waist*****_

**Chloe: **I must say she has captured his heart pretty quickly for them to be kissing like that.

**Legolas:** Chloe, may I talk to you privately?

**Chloe:** Yes, of course.

_*****They walk behind a bell a minute's walk away from Aragorn and Arwen and Legolas holds her close*****_

**Legolas: **I want to talk about us, about what is going to happen...

**Chloe: **Legolas, is it because of the kiss?

**Legolas:** Sort of.

**Chloe: **Legolas, I gave you that kiss because I care for you, deeply... more than can possibly be imagined to occur this soon.

**Legolas:** But why me?

**Chloe:** You were alone, and when I looked at you, I practically saw myself in your eyes, an outcast... I thought that I would never find someone like you, needing to be able to fit in with others, I have felt like that ever since I was very young, and I am only fifteen. I'd rather be with you than a thousand knights in shining armours.

**Legolas:** to be honest, you have made me feel like I belong somewhere, like I have a purpose... You have made me smile, and ever since that kiss, all I could clearly think about was how you have brightened my world with your light...

**Chloe:** Then what is there to question when it is clear that we have deep feelings for each other?

**Legolas: **I don't know what I feel, but I was hoping that you knew.

_*****Chloe smiles and places her hand on his cheek as his arms remain around her waist, keeping her close to him.*****_

**Chloe:** Maybe neither of us know... but we can find out together...

_*****Then their lips met. The kiss began as a gentle hovering amongst the each other's lips. They both had their eyes closed and Chloe wrapped her arms around his neck, Legolas wrapping his arms even tighter. Their lips smothered together passionately before they break away to hear Pippin bleating excitedly. Legolas runs to the window*****_

**Legolas:** (To Chloe) Thranduil's coming. You must leave. Quick, follow me! Go down the south tower steps.

**Chloe:** Be careful, my love. Promise you won't let anything happen to him. Arwen will never forgive me, otherwise.

**Legolas:** I promise.

**Chloe:** Thank you.

_*****They share a brief and passionate kiss before Chloe, Arwen and Pippin leave. The statues come back to life*****_

**Gimli:** Quick, we gotta stash the stiff!

_*****They hurriedly drag Aragorn' body off the bed and underneath the table with Legolas's models on it. He hurriedly tries to set his models straight as Thranduil enters. He feigns surprise*****_

**Legolas:** Oh, master, I didn't think you'd be coming-

**Thranduil:** I'm never too busy to share a meal with you, dear boy. I brought a little treat.

_*****He clears his throat slightly, and Legolas realises he hasn't set the table. He rushes off to grab the dishes, and is obviously flustered, dropping and breaking things*****_

**Thranduil: **Is there something troubling you, Legolas?

**Legolas: **No. No!

**Thranduil:** Oh, but there is. I know there is.

_*****Thranduil has pulled out a bunch of grapes. One falls to the floor, near the Aragorn. Legolas cautiously picks it up*****_

**Thranduil:** I think...you're hiding something.

**Legolas:** Oh, no, sir. There's nothing-

**Thranduil: **You're not eating, boy.

_*****Legolas quickly gobbles a handful of grapes*****_

**Legolas:** (Mumbling through the food) It's very good. Thank you.

_*****Aragorn moans. Legolas moans similarly, indicating he enjoys the food. Aragorn sighs louder. Legolas kicks him, knocking him out, then pretends to cough to cover up the noise*****_

**Legolas:** Seeds.

**Thranduil:** (Looking at the models) What's different in here?

**Legolas: **Nothing, sir.

**Thranduil:** Isn't this one new?

_*****He picks up a figure that is actually a model of Chloe*****_

**Thranduil:** It's awfully good. Looks very much like the girl. I know.

_*****A nasty look creeps across his face as his voice rises*****_

**Thranduil: **You helped her escape!

**Legolas:** But-

**Thranduil:** And now, all of Paris is burning because of you!

**Legolas: **I love her, master!

_*****Thranduil smashes the table and its setting*****_

**Thranduil:** You idiot! That isn't love you feel, she's a witch! She is not capable of real love! Think, boy! Think of your mother!

_*****Thranduil takes a moment to recompose himself*****_

**Thranduil: **But what chance could a poor vermin child like you have against her heathen treachery? Well, never you mind, Legolas. She will be out of our lives soon enough. I will free you from her evil spell. She will torment you no longer.

**Legolas:** What do you mean?

**Thranduil:** I know where her hideout is, and tomorrow, at dawn, I attack with a thousand men.

_*****He exits, and Aragorn emerges*****_

**Aragorn:** We have to find the Court of Miracles, before daybreak. If Thranduil gets there first...are you coming with me?

**Legolas:** I don't know.

**Aragorn:** Well, I'm not going to sit by and watch Thranduil massacre innocent people, let's be quick!

_*****He turns and leaves*****_

**Legolas:** (To the statues) I must do this... I cannot lose her...

**Eowyn:** (smiles) We know.

_*****Legolas takes his cloak and leaves the tower. At ground level, Aragorn is exiting the cathedral. No sooner has he stepped outside, than Legolas hops in front of him*****_

**Legolas:** Aragorn!

_*****Aragorn shouts out in surprise*****_

**Legolas:** I obviously can't let you go alone.

**Aragorn:** I'm glad.

**Legolas:** I'm not doing it for you. I'm doing it for Chloe. And yes, she'll be with Arwen.

**Aragorn:** You know where they are?

**Legolas:** No, but she said this would help us find them.

_*****Legolas pulls out the talisman and hands it to the Aragorn*****_

**Aragorn:** Good, good, good! Ahhh. Great! (Examines it.) What is it?

**Legolas:** I'm not sure.

**Aragorn: **Hmm. Must be some sort of code. Maybe it's Arabic. No, no, it's not Arabic. Maybe it's ancient Greek...

**Legolas:** (whispering to himself) When you wear this woven band, you hold the city in your hand.

**Aragorn:** What?

**Legolas:** It's the city!

**Aragorn: **What are you talking about?

**Legolas: **It's a map! (Points to the centre) See, here's the cathedral, and the river, and this little...

**Aragorn:** I've never seen a map that looks like this and...

_*****They both talk at once, ending at the same time*****_

**Legolas:** ...and this is it!

**Aragorn:** ...and this is not it!

_*****They both breathe deeply, then Aragorn gives in*****_

**Aragorn: **All right, okay. You say it's a map, fine, it's a map. If we're going to find Chloe and Arwen, we have to work together. Truce?

_*****He slaps Legolas on the back*****_

**Legolas:** Well...okay.

_*****Legolas slaps Aragorn back. Aragorn winces a little. They start off*****_

**Legolas:** Sorry.

**Aragorn:** It's fine, I'm the one who got shot by an arrow in the first place.

_*****Dissolve to a single light entering a graveyard. They approach a central grave, with a symbol on it*****_

**Aragorn:** This looks like the symbol on the map.

**Legolas:** But what does it mean?

**Aragorn: **Hmm. I'm not sure. I can make out an inscription, but it's going to take a few minutes to translate it.

_*****Legolas pushes the lid off the grave, revealing a staircase going down*****_

**Aragorn: **Yes, well, or we could just go down those stairs.

_*****They end up in a partially flooded chamber, lined with skeletons*****_

**Legolas:** Is this the Court of Miracles?

**Aragorn:** Offhand, I'd say it's the Court of Ankle Deep Sewage. Must be the old catacombs.

_*****As they proceed, they fail to notice three of the skeletons rise behind them*****_

**Aragorn: **Cheerful place. Kinda makes you wish you got out more often, eh Legolas?

**Legolas: **Not me. I just want to warn Chloe without causing any trouble.

**Aragorn:** Speaking of trouble, we should have run in to some by now.

**Legolas:** What do you mean?

**Aragorn: **You know, a guard, a booby trap...

_*****And their torch blows out, leaving them in darkness*****_

**Aragorn: **... or an ambush.

_*****Suddenly, the chamber is fully lit, and they're surrounded by skeletons. They force them to their knees in front of a now unmasked Clopin*****_

**Clopin: **Well, well, well. What have we here?

**Skeleton 1:** Trespassers!

**Skeleton 2: **Spies!

**Aragorn:** We are not spies!

**Legolas: **Can't you listen-

_*****They're both gagged*****_

**Clopin:** Don't interrupt me! You're very clever to have found our hideaway. Unfortunately, you won't live to tell the tale.

_*****They are led into a complete underground town, teeming with several gypsies*****_

**Clopin/Gypsies: **_MAYBE YOU'VE HEARD OF A TERRIBLE PLACE WHERE THE SCOUNDRELS OF PARIS COLLECT IN A LAIR MAYBE YOU'VE HEARD OF THAT MYTHICAL PLACE CALLED THE COURT OF MIRACLES. _

**Clopin: **_HELLO, YOU'RE THERE! _

**Gypsies:** _WHERE THE LAME CAN WALK AND THE BLIND CAN SEE _

**Clopin: **_BUT THE DEAD DON'T TALK SO YOU WON'T BE AROUND TO REVEAL WHAT YOU'VE FOUND!_

**Clopin/Gypsies:** _WE HAVE A METHOD FOR SPIES AND INTRUDERS RATHER LIKE HORNETS PROTECTING THEIR HIVE _

**Clopin:** _HERE IN THE COURT OF MIRACLES!_

**Clopin/Gypsies: **_WHERE IT'S A MIRACLE IF YOU GET OUT ALIVE! _

_*****Legolas and Aragorn have been taken up to a platform, where nooses are placed around their necks*****_

**Clopin:** Gather around, everybody! There's good "noose" tonight!

_*****The crowd laughs*****_

**Clopin:** It's a double header, a couple of Thranduil's spies!

_*****The crowd boos*****_

**Clopin: **And not just any spies! His Captain Aragorn of the guard, and his loyal bell ringing elf! _JUSTICE IS SWIFT IN THE COURT OF MIRACLES! I AM THE LAWYERS AND JUDGE ALL IN ONE! WE LIKE TO GET THE TRIAL OVER WITH QUICKLY BECAUSE IT'S THE SENTENCE THAT'S REALLY THE FUN!_

_*****Clopin is about to pull the handle to drop the floor out from underneath Legolas and Aragorn*****_

**Clopin:** Any last words?

_*****They mumble through their gags*****_

**Clopin:** That's what they all say! _NOW THAT WE'VE SEEN ALL THE EVIDENCE-_

**Puppet:** WAIT! I OBJECT!

**Clopin:** OVERRULED!

**Puppet:** I OBJECT!

**Clopin:** QUIET!

**Puppet:** DANG.

**Clopin:** _WE FIND YOU TOTALLY INNOCENT... WHICH IS THE WORST CRIME OF ALL!_

**Clopin/Gypsies: **_SO YOU'RE GOING TO HANG! _

_*****Clopin starts to pull the handle, but stops at Chloe and Arwen's shouts*****_

**Chloe/Arwen:** Stop!

**Legolas/Aragorn:** (Muffled) Chloe! Arwen!

**Chloe:** They aren't spies-they're our friends!

_*****Chloe removes the nooses and gags*****_

**Clopin**: Why didn't they say so?!

**Legolas/Aragorn:** We did say so!

**Arwen:** (Points at Aragorn) This is the soldier that saved the miller's family!

**Chloe: **(Points at Legolas) and Legolas is my lover who helped me escape the cathedral.

**Aragorn:** (Shouts to crowd) We came to warn you! Thranduil's coming! He says he knows where you're hiding, and he's attacking at dawn with a thousand men.

**Arwen: **Then let's waste no time! We must leave immediately!

_*****Gypsies begin running everywhere, beginning to pack up. Chloe moves close to Legolas and Arwen moves close to Aragorn*****_

**Chloe: **You took a terrible risk coming here.

**Arwen: **It may not exactly show, but we're grateful.

**Aragorn:** Don't thank me. Thank Legolas. Without his help, we woulnd't have been able to find you here.

**Thranduil:** Nor would I!

_*****Thranduil and his men appear in the doorway. Soldiers surround the people and take the gypsies into custody*****_

**Thranduil: **After twenty five years of searching, the Court of Miracles is mine at last. (To Legolas) Dear Legolas, I always knew you would someday be of use to me.

**Chloe:** What are you talking about?

**Thranduil: **Why, he led me right to you, my dear.

**Chloe:** You're a liar!

**Thranduil: **And look what else I've caught in my net-Captain Aragorn, back from the dead. Another miracle, no doubt. I shall remedy that. (To all) There will be a little bonfire in the square tomorrow, and you're all invited to attend. (To guards) Lock them up.

**Legolas:** No, please, master.

**Thranduil:** Take him back to the bell tower, and make sure he stays there.

_*****Dissolve to morning, where a huge crowd has gathered to watch the burning of Chloe, who is on a pyre. Thranduil stands next to her. Gypsies watch from cages. As the archdeacon comes out to see what is happening, guards block him off*** **_

**Thranduil:** The prisoner Chloe has been found guilty of the crime of witchcraft. The sentence: death!

_*****Cheers go up from the crowd*****_

**Thranduil:** (Leans close to Chloe) The time has come, girl. You stand upon the brink of the abyss. Yet even now, it is not too late. I can save you from the flames of this world, and the next. Choose me, or the fire.

_*****She spits in his face*****_

**Thranduil:** The gypsy Chloe has refused to recant. This evil witch has put the soul of every citizen of Paris in mortal danger...

_*****His voice trails off as we fly up to the chained Legolas*****_

**Gimli:** Come on, Legolas! Snap out of it!

**Eowyn:** Your lover is down there!

**Legolas:** It's all my fault.

**Boromir:** You have break these chains!

**Legolas:** I can't. I'm not strong enough. What difference would it make?

**Eowyn:** But you can't let Thranduil win!

**Legolas:** He already has.

**Gimli:** So, you're giving up? That's it?

**Boromir:** These chains aren't what's holding you back, Legolas.

**Legolas:** (Whispers) Please... leave me alone.

_*****Legolas sheds a few tears and the statues finally give up, and move away*****_

**Gimli:** Alright, Lad. We'll leave you alone.

**Boromir: **After all, we're only made of stone.

_*****Boromir and Gimli turn to stone*****_

**Eowyn: **We just thought that maybe you were made of something stronger...

_*****Eowyn turns to stone. Legolas sees Chloe below, about to be burned at the stake. He begins to pull at the chains*****_

**Thranduil:** ...for justice, for Paris, and for her own salvation! It is my shameful duty to send this poor girl back where she belongs!

_*****He touches the torch to the pyre, starting the fire*****_

**Legolas:** NO!

_*****He begins to pull harder and harder. The bells begin to quietly ring as he shakes the very building, ripping out pillars of stone. Finally he is freed. He races off and grabs a rope. Leaping off the edge of the cathedral, he lassoes a gargoyle and rappels down the side of the building. Finally, he's close enough. He jumps off, flies out over the crowd and lands on the platform. He quickly breaks Chloe's ropes. A trio of guards come at him, but Legolas grabs a torch and swings it at them, scaring them off. He grabs the rope and climbs back to the top of the building*****_

**Thranduil:** Legolas!

_*****Legolas reaches the top of the building and stands in front of the giant stained glass window. He holds Chloe's body high above his head*****_

**Legolas:** Sanctuary! Sanctuary! Sanctuary!

_*****The crowd cheers. Thranduil is not pleased*****_

**Thranduil:** You!

**Guard: **Sir?

**Thranduil:** Seize the cathedral!

_*****Back to the top, Legolas has brought the still unconscious Chloe into the bedroom. He lies her down on the bed and kisses her gently*****_

**Legolas:** Don't worry, my love. You'll be safe here.

_*****Legolas leaps down, then grabs a beam of wood and throws it at the advancing soldiers on the ground. They scurry like ants*****_

**Thranduil: **Come back, you cowards! (To guards at Aragorn's cage) You men! Pick up that beam! Break down the door!

_*****The men oblige Thranduil, leaving only Guard 2. Aragorn grabs him around the neck from inside the cage*****_

**Aragorn:** Alone at last!

_*****He bonks the guard on the head, and as Guard 2 falls to the ground, he grabs the keys to the lock. The guards, meanwhile, have begun battering the door. Aragorn unlocks himself, then leaps on top of the cage*****_

**Aragorn: **Citizens of Paris! Thranduil has persecuted our people, ransacked our city! Now he has declared war on Notre Dame herself! Will we allow it?!

**Crowd:** No!

_*****As the crowd begins to break loose the gypsies, the guards continue their assault. Soon, the crowd swarms around the door*****_

**Gimli: **I think the cavalry's here!

**Boromir:** (Sees Aragorn) Wait! Isn't that Gongor?

**Eowyn: **No, you Idiot! His name is-

**Legolas:** -Aragorn!

_*****The crowds continue to fight. Legolas continues to drop things on the advancing troops. Eowyn drops a brick, landing square on a guard's head*****_

**Eowyn:** Sorry! Sorry!

_*****Gimli throws a rock in his mouth, then chomps it up, flies around like a bomber, ending up on the ledge. He begins spitting out pebbles like a machine gun. Meanwhile, Thranduil is supervising the guards at the door.*****_

**Guard:** Harder!

_*****As the fighting continues, a guard breaks the lock off the stockade. The old prisoner is once again free*****_

**Old Prisoner:** I'm free! I'm free!

_*****He steps into a hole labeled "Mon Sewer"*****_

**Old Prisoner:** Dang it!

_*****A grappling hook reaches Legolas. He grabs it, then pulls the rope tight. Three guards smash into the building. Meanwhile, Boromir and Gimli are building a catapult. They finally are finished and ready to fire*****_

**Boromir:** Ready...aim...fire!

_*****They push the catapult off the ledge, sending it crashing to the ground. Soldiers scatter as it hits*****_

**Boromir:** Are you sure that's how it works?

_*****The catapult, upside down, springs, sending the cart bottom on top of some soldiers*****_

**Gimli: **Works for me!

_*****More fighting. A Guard is defeated by Aragorn, and he ends up behind a horse*****_

**Aragorn:** Hey, horsey! Sit!

_*****And the horse obeys. Cut to Eowyn, sending the birds to attack, ala "The Wizard of Oz."*****_

**Eowyn: **Fly, my pretties! Fly! Fly!

_*****The guards continue to work on the door*****_

**Guard:** Put your backs into it!

_*****Meanwhile, Boromir is using Gimli as a bellows to warm up the fire on the lead pot. Legolas attaches a rope to it, then dumps it over, sending fire pouring out of the tower and onto the scattering guards below. The guards battering the door run, but Thranduil manages to get inside the cathedral safely. As he does, Gandalf runs up to him*****_

**Gandalf: **Thranduil, have you gone mad? I will not tolerate this assault on the house of God!

_*****He shoves Gandalf to the ground*****_

**Thranduil:** Silence, you old fool! The Elf and I have unfinished business to attend to. And this time, you will not interfere.

_*****He closes the door and locks it from the inside. Upstairs, Legolas bursts into the bedroom jubilantly*****_

**Legolas:** We've done it, my love! We've beaten them back! Come and see!

_*****She doesn't move*****_

**Legolas:** Chloe? Wake up, my love! You're safe now.

_*****He pauses, but still nothing*****_

**Legolas:** Chloe?... Oh, no!

_*****He gets a spoonful of water, and tries to make her drink it. She doesn't*****_

**Legolas:** Oh no...

_*****He begins to cry rapidly. Thranduil enters and touches Legolas on his shoulder*****_

**Legolas:** You killed her.

**Thranduil:** It was my duty, horrible as it was. I hope you can forgive me. There, there, Legolas, I know it hurts. But now, the time has come to end your suffering. Forever...

_*****We see that Thranduil has a dagger. As Thranduil raises it to stab him, Legolas sees the shadow of the dagger. He turns and struggles with Thranduil only briefly, before wresting the dagger from Thranduil's hands and backing him into a corner*****_

**Thranduil: **Now, now, listen to me, Legolas.

**Legolas:** No, you listen! All my life you have told me the world is a dark, cruel place. But now, I see that the only thing dark and cruel about it is people like you!

_*****He throws away the dagger*****_

**Chloe: **Legolas?

_*****He turns and sees Chloe sitting on the bed*****_

**Legolas:** My love!

**Thranduil:** She lives!

_*****Thranduil grabs a sword*****_

**Legolas: **No!

_*****He grabs Chloe and runs out onto the balcony. Thranduil follows, but when he gets outside, he sees nothing but gargoyles. After looking left and right, he looks out over the edge and finds Legolas hanging there with Chloe*****_

**Thranduil: **Leaving so soon?

_*****He swings his sword, but Legolas dodges the blow by swinging to another spot. Down on the ground, the guards stop to watch*****_

**Guard: **Up there!

_*****Thranduil goes to swing again*****_

**Legolas: **Hang on!

_*****Legolas swings off again, just narrowly missing Thranduil's sword and throwing Chloe to a safe flat surface. Finally, Thranduil gets Legolas cornered*****_

**Thranduil: **I should have known you'd risk your life to save that witch. Just as your own mother died trying to save you.

**Legolas:** My mother?!

**Thranduil: **Yes... Now I'm going to do what I should have done twenty five years ago!

_*****He swings his cape, covering Legolas's head. But as he tries to throw Legolas off the balcony, the panicking Legolas pulls Thranduil off as well. Now Thranduil is hanging onto Legolas, who is hanging onto Chloe. Thranduil throws his cape around another gargoyle, and pulls himself over. He stands up and is about to swing at Chloe*****_

**Thranduil: **And He shall smite the wicked and plunge them into the fiery pit!

_*****The gargoyle, however, begins to crack. Thranduil is thrown off balance, and hangs onto the gargoyle's head. Suddenly, the 'goyle comes to life and roars. Thranduil screams, and the now stone gargoyle breaks off, sending Thranduil falling to his death. Meanwhile, Chloe is losing her grip on Legolas*****_

**Chloe: **Hold on, Legolas! Please!

_*****He slips loose and begins to fall*****_

**Chloe:** No!

_*****He falls right along the building, close enough for Aragorn and Arwen to catch him several floors below and pull him back into the building. When Legolas sees who has caught him, the three of them hug. Chloe comes running in. After Chloe hugs him, she takes Arwen's hand and Aragorn' hand, and puts them together. They kiss, and Legolas and Chloe smile broadly before kissing aswell. Cut to ground level, where Aragorn, Arwen and Chloe emerge into the light. As the crowd cheers, Chloe turns back to the open doorway. She comes back and leads out Legolas. The crowd goes silent. Soon, a little girl cautiously comes forward from the crowd. She looks at him, then feels his face and ears. They then hug, and Legolas picks her up and put her up on his shoulder. The crowd begins to cheer. As he moves into the crowd, they do not move away as before. Eowyn, Gimli and Boromir are above, breaking out the champagne*****_

**Clopin: **Three cheers for Legolas, Chloe, Arwen and Aragorn!

_*****The crowd breaks into loud cheering*****_

**Clopin:** _SO... HERE IS A RIDDLE YOU NEVER CAN GUESS SING THE BELLS OF NOTRE DAME! WHAT MAKES A MONSTER, AND WHAT MAKES AN ANGEL? SING THE BELLS, BELLS, BELLS, BELLS... WHATEVER THEIR PITCH, YOU CAN HEAR THEM BEWITCH YOU, THE RICH AND THE RITUAL KNELLS, OF THE BELLS OF NOTRE DAME!_

_*****A long pullout, as we see the crowd following Legolas, Chloe, Aragorn and Arwen, and then the statues looking over them. Birds have once again covered Boromir*****_

**Boromir:** DON'T YOU EVER MIGRATE?!

_*****We continue to pull out, until the entire city is in view. Fade to black.*****_

_**The End**_


End file.
